Woodstock 13U ‘wrangle’ their way into National Championship medal round

Woodstock’s Charlotte Roy (left) takes off from first on a Caiden Stashands-Alavaro base hit, advancing to third on the play, as watched by BC #2 first baseman Oaklee Neufeld. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Echo Correspondent

Woodstock wrangled its way into the medal round of the 2026 13U National Championship baseball tournament, facing both inclement weather and a pair of strong teams.

The 13U Wranglers opened semi-final play with an 11-4 loss to eventual champion British Columbia #1 Sunday, Aug. 23 at Woodstock’s Southside East diamond, before dropping a 16-2 decision to Quebec #2 in the bronze medal final on Southside West. Rain delays pushed the medal games to 9:55 p.m. British Columbia #1 would beat Quebec #1 by an 11-2 margin on Southside’s East diamond in the gold final.

Woodstock had opened round-robin play Thursday morning with a tough 2-1 loss to Quebec #2. Quebec scored both its runs in the bottom of the fifth, back-to-back singles by Liam Giroux and Knoxx Dubord coming home on a groundout to short and a sacrifice fly to right, respectively. Woodstock’s Ryker Freeman was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the sixth, stole second and scored on an error at third, pulling the Wranglers within one. Woodstock’s Liam Collette stroked a leadoff double in the top of the seventh, but Quebec closer Matthew Ciamarro kept him there with back-to-back strikeouts and a game-ending ground ball to second.

The Wranglers rebounded with a 15-1 romp over Newfoundland and Labrador in their second outing Thursday, exploding for 10 runs in the fourth and adding five more in the fifth. The fourth-inning outburst was highlighted by a three-run Jack Lisk home run with Collette adding a double and a triple, Charlotte Roy a double, Luca Di Nardo two singles and Oliver Howard a run-scoring single.

Woodstock’s Will Winchester was both the Alpha and Omega in a pivotal round-robin-closing 6-3 win over British Columbia #2, sparking a four-run rally in the home third and closing it out with a four-out save.

The Wranglers were trailing 3-0 when Winchester stepped to the plate, driving a leadoff double over BC right fielder Ethan Shuel’s head.

“Just dialled in on the pitcher,” said Winchester. “Waited for my pitch and got it.”

He took third on a slide on a passed ball. Jack Oliver followed with a base on balls and Charlotte Roy loaded the bases, hit by a pitch that encouraged rather than discouraged her.

“Felt good, felt great,” she said. “Made me feel, like pumped up.”

Winchester and Oliver scored on Caiden Stashands-Alvarado’s two-RBI single, leaving runners at first and third. Roy plated the tying run on a gutsy double-steal, the strategy anticipated by B.C. Shortstop Parker Erickson took catcher Jay Enns’ throw 15 feet in front of second base and returned it home. Roy, catching a glimpse of her opponents’ successful reading of the play, was still able to score.

“I just focused on home plate, just be there,” she said, uncertain if she’d gotten under or around Enns’ tag attempt. “As long as I was safe.”

Collette doubled into the right field corner to plate Stashands-Alvarado with the go-ahead run.

“Felt good, being able to get the boys back with some good energy,” said Winchester. “Got that four-run and stayed on top.”

The Wranglers added insurance runs in the fifth (solo Jack Borg home run over the fence just right of centre) and sixth, (one-out Kingston Li single and RBI Di Nardo base hit between third and short).

Winchester was called on in relief with two out in the top of the sixth.

“I said ‘All right, let’s go.’ Bit of a surprise, but I was ready.”

He exited the sixth with a comebacker to the mound. Woodstock recorded the first out of the seventh on a first-pitch ground ball to Borg at short, before back-to-back singles brought the tying run to home plate.

“There were some nerves,” Winchester admitted. “Just quiet their dugout, all the fans screaming, just me and my catcher playing catch.”

He got the second out, striking out swinging on a low curveball, both runners advancing, before Borg’s second flawless chance on a grounder to short helped lock up a four-out save.

“Defence held it down for me,” Winchester credited.

The win qualified Woodstock for championship quarterfinals, the Wranglers advancing to semis with a 5-2 win over Ontario beginning Saturday at noon on Southside East. Woodstock broke a 2-2 tie with a three-run top of the sixth, fuelled by Borg reaching base on a passed ball following a leadoff strikeout, singles from Collette and Li and a two-out Andrew Jantzi triple to right, cut down at home plate as he tried to stretch it into an inside-the-park home run.